Bit of a struggle with world/character building at the moment

[BurntToast00]

Hey everyone, I got something I need a little help with. So I have a project I've been working on for roughly 3 months now that's loosely based off of and inspired from the game Ghost of Tsushima. It's a more recent release and focuses on a Samurai warrior reclaiming Tsushima Island from the Invading mongol forces in 1274. You ditch the old, traditional warrior's code of Bushidō and forge the unconventional path of the Ghost (the dishonorable choice that ultimately saves mainland Japan from being invaded by the Mongols at the cost of your banishment from your own clan on top of being hunted by the Shogun.)

I intend to follow this storyline using the very base as the inspiration. In my universe, the story takes place in 2045 in mainland Japan. Feudalism was never abolished, thus keeping the Shogunate in power all throughout history. Both visions of feudal and modern society coexist, giving a heavy retrowave kind of vibe and look. The nation of Japan has fallen victim to two civil wars in the preceding years of 2041 and 2043 and is about to be thrust into a 3rd one come 2045. The shogun leads an oppressive, imperial regime that keeps the people of Japan bound by unbreakable shackles. My MC is simply an ordinary person trying to make ends meet in the current world he finds himself in. Though this all changes when he's called upon to continue the Ghosts' legacy when it originated centuries ago.

In my universe, the Ghost wasn't a single warrior, but instead 9 over the course of Japan's history. From Samurai, to Shinobi (Ninja) to Sōhei (warrior monk) leading up to the 10th generation (My MC). Every generation has passed down the iconic set of armor nicknamed Oni no shinzo (Heart of the Oni) as well as a pair of Daishō (Long and short Uchigatana swords.) Upon the 10th gen coming to life after remaining dormant for years, the mission becomes clear. To kill the Shogun, destroy his empire and abolish feudalism in Japan, setting her people free from oppression.

I have made a considerable amount of progress on it but have come to a bit of a block. My main thing is, I want to write this correctly and pay respect to the culture of feudal Japan and the warriors it harbored while also incorporating my own elements of fantasy and fiction as well. If anyone here has a decent knowledge bank on feudal Japanese culture along with customs and courtesies, I'd be immensely grateful if you could share some with me! I'm currently doing extensive research myself but help is always appreciated!

I'd also be thankful for ideas/help on the fantasy aspect of the world. As stated prior, I have made decent progress but currently struggling with these aspects. I don't wanna have this post be a novel in itself so I'll stop it here lol, if need be I can always provide more details and even screenshots of my work so far!

I appreciate all of you and your time!

 

[Chasejxyz]

Are you Japanese? Because if you aren't and you plan on taking on this project...well, I wish you the best of luck. It's going to be incredibly difficult to get this read/accepted by agents/editors/readers as a whole, as people are more sensitive to stories about [minorities] not being written by [minority in question]. A LOT (and I mean a LOT) of cyberpunk is based on "Yellow Peril"-y fear of Asian (most often, Japan) people/countries/companies taking over the world for various evil reasons.

If you seriously want to do this project and have it come out as respectful as possible (and you accept the fact that you run the risk of many editors/agents never even reading your pages because this isn't #ownvoices), this forum is not the place to get this info. You need to find actual Japanese people and Japanese historians. Look up your local university and see who's in their Japanese language/studies department and contact them. Find cultural/community centers for Japanese people and ask them for resources. If you look at something like The Last Airbender, which was made by white people, they went out of their way to find experts in the various martial arts and Asian cultures so that they could draw from them respectfully. The concept of an "avatar" is from Hinduism, and the concept of a single person/soul/what have you being reincarnated in an endless cycle is from Buddhism (the scene where they show various toys to a baby Aang to see if he's the Avatar is straight out of Tibetan Buddhism specifically). Golden Kamuy is a manga set in historic Japan but it heavily features the Ainu people, and the mangaka works closely with an Ainu linguist from a university to make sure everything is correct and respectful.

Just look at Ghost of Tsushima's development. "We actually thought about using some historical figures, and we asked some people who are more culturally aware than us and they said that it would be insensitive, so we didn't do it." This is what you need to do. You need to go out there and do the hard work and find these subject matter experts, and if they tell you no, you accept it and change what you're doing. The Japanese localizer for Ghosts said that they shouldn't be calling that one side quest "haikus" because....well, they're not, and they ignored that since haikus are more well known in the west. Almost immediately upon release, Japanese poetry experts called the game our for making dumb, meaningless haikus that miss the entire point of the art form. They had every opportunity to prevent that from happening and they didn't because what western audiences would like was more important than the feelings and opinions of the people they were creating a story about.

 

[BurntToast00]

Are you Japanese? Because if you aren't and you plan on taking on this project...well, I wish you the best of luck. It's going to be incredibly difficult to get this read/accepted by agents/editors/readers as a whole, as people are more sensitive to stories about [minorities] not being written by [minority in question]. A LOT (and I mean a LOT) of cyberpunk is based on "Yellow Peril"-y fear of Asian (most often, Japan) people/countries/companies taking over the world for various evil reasons.

If you seriously want to do this project and have it come out as respectful as possible (and you accept the fact that you run the risk of many editors/agents never even reading your pages because this isn't #ownvoices), this forum is not the place to get this info. You need to find actual Japanese people and Japanese historians. Look up your local university and see who's in their Japanese language/studies department and contact them. Find cultural/community centers for Japanese people and ask them for resources. If you look at something like The Last Airbender, which was made by white people, they went out of their way to find experts in the various martial arts and Asian cultures so that they could draw from them respectfully. The concept of an "avatar" is from Hinduism, and the concept of a single person/soul/what have you being reincarnated in an endless cycle is from Buddhism (the scene where they show various toys to a baby Aang to see if he's the Avatar is straight out of Tibetan Buddhism specifically). Golden Kamuy is a manga set in historic Japan but it heavily features the Ainu people, and the mangaka works closely with an Ainu linguist from a university to make sure everything is correct and respectful.

Just look at Ghost of Tsushima's development. "We actually thought about using some historical figures, and we asked some people who are more culturally aware than us and they said that it would be insensitive, so we didn't do it." This is what you need to do. You need to go out there and do the hard work and find these subject matter experts, and if they tell you no, you accept it and change what you're doing. The Japanese localizer for Ghosts said that they shouldn't be calling that one side quest "haikus" because....well, they're not, and they ignored that since haikus are more well known in the west. Almost immediately upon release, Japanese poetry experts called the game our for making dumb, meaningless haikus that miss the entire point of the art form. They had every opportunity to prevent that from happening and they didn't because what western audiences would like was more important than the feelings and opinions of the people they were creating a story about.

Wasn't expecting a response like this to be honest. Though I'm glad I recieved it. This definitely opened my eyes and showed me what I really need to do, who to look for and where to go for resources. To answer your first question, I'm not Japanese myself. Though I've always been in love with it's history, both ancient and modern. I know Japan is much more than "UwU anime" hence why I'm wanting to take on something like this. I have a genuine interest in it and want to make something that sticks out from the rest.

I know it's going to be difficult but I'm more than ready to get at this more than anything. It's not impossible so it's worth a shot. I appreciate all that you've said and I'll get started on it immediately. I actually didn't know about the haikus thing from Ghost of Tsushima. I knew they had messed up other things with the game (like the Katana somehow existing in 1274) but never that. Back on topic though, I'll be sure to do what you listed off here and get this moving in the right direction. Thank you for the information and where I can/should go to get it.

 

[Carol]

This is not my area but as an historian and a researcher I start with expert books, so I recommend the Cambridge History of Japan which is in 6 volumes, the publisher states:
'The Cambridge History of Japan is the first major collaborative synthesis to present the current state of knowledge of Japanese history for the English-reading world. The series draws on the expertise and research of leading Japanese specialists as well as the foremost Western historians of Japan. From prehistory to the present day, the series encompasses the events and developments in Japanese polity, economy, culture, religion and foreign affairs. In the distinguished tradition of Cambridge histories, the completed series provides an indispensable reference tool for all students and scholars of Japan and the Far East.'
Here is a link to the publisher's page:
The Cambridge History of Japan

It is possible to access the books via a personal or institutional Log-in, but you will need to check that out thoroughly on the website.
Good Luck!

 

[TheKillerBs]

I really wouldn't sweat it about a non-Japanese person writing about Japanese culture because the Japanese have such a strong national and international representation in the media. It's not like Native Americans who don't really have a voice in the media. The Japanese do and Japanese media is as guilty of the same stuff as Western media. That being said, do take the advice of doing your research and getting experts to vet it. It's not just about respect, your story will be stronger for it.

 

[skip.knox]

Read read read. Do not neglect historical fiction as well as historical fact, but when I say read I'm thinking scores if not hundreds of books.

Second, start looking for sensitivity readers. That's beta readers who (for your case) are Japanese or who have a strong background in Japanese culture, always keeping in mind that there's plenty of cultural diversity and diversity of opinions and world-views within Japanese culture. So you'll want multiple such readers. Those readers are not going to do that work for free, and you probably aren't going to be able to command their time, which may affect your release schedule.

The undertaking is, as they say, non-trivial.

 

[Prince of Spires]

To be fair though, if this is based on 13th century Japan then it will have little in common culturally with present day Japan (and a present day Japanese person will have very little claim to it in my opinion). We are a product of everything which has come before us as well as the technologies which shape our lives. If you change something major 900 years ago, you diverge in such a way that the end product can be very different. So in that sense you can get away with almost everything.

That said, if you want to make it feel like Japan, you will have to do a lot of research, and you don't want to go with the Western idea of what Japan and Japanese culture is. You'll want to dig deep and then also consider how your society will be different based on your altered timeline.

Out of curiosity, why do you want to set your story in Japan? Isn't going with "Totaly not Japan in an alternate world it just looks like it" an option? It's part of what Avatar did, Pokemon does it as well (I think). It gives you a bit more freedom in terms of culture and setting.